Three Concealed Pungs

What Is Three Concealed Pungs

Three Concealed Pungs is a high-value 16-fan hand in Chinese Mahjong, requiring exactly three pungs (or kongs) all formed by self-draw rather than by calling an opponent’s discard. While your fourth meld can be melded or concealed, and the pair can be any tile, the main challenge is preserving those three pungs as concealed sets. This often means passing up discard calls for crucial third copies of a tile, yet the reward—a hefty 16 fan—makes it a prime target for those who gather multiple pairs early or see a chance to self-draw pungs with minimal interference.

The Tile Pattern of Three Concealed Pungs

In Chinese Mahjong, Three Concealed Pungs is achieved when your winning hand contains exactly three pungs (or kongs) that you formed entirely from self-draw—meaning you did not call “pung” on an opponent’s discard for any of those three sets. In other words, each of these three pungs was assembled within your hand without melding from someone else’s discard.

Examples：

• Concealed Pung 1: e.g., (5 C, 5 C, 5 C) assembled by self-draw.
• Concealed Pung 2: e.g., (7 B, 7 B, 7 B) also self-drawn.
• Concealed Pung 3: e.g., (Green Dragon, Green Dragon, Green Dragon) self-drawn.

Each pung can optionally become a concealed kong (four of a kind) if you draw the fourth tile yourself and do not expose it via a discard call. But typically, pungs suffice.

Fan Value of Three Concealed Pungs

Three Concealed Pungs is worth 16 fan in Chinese Mahjong—double the standard 8-fan minimum often required to win. Since assembling three full pungs (each from self-draw) can be challenging, the high fan value reflects its rarity and difficulty.

Strategies and Considerations of Three Concealed Pungs

Ensuring Your Pungs Are Concealed: The main rule for a pung to count as “concealed” is that you never claim it from an opponent’s discard. You must draw all three copies from the wall (or via Kong replacement tiles). If you are in tenpai for a concealed pung (say you have two copies in hand) and an opponent discards the third, you cannot call “pung” if you want that pung to remain concealed. You would have to rely on self-drawing that tile later.

Meld vs. Fully Concealed:

• Possibility of Exposing the Fourth Meld: You only need the three pungs to be self-drawn. Your fourth meld (be it a chow, pung, or kong) could be formed by calling from a discard. This does not invalidate “Three Concealed Pungs.”
• Potential for Extra Concealment: If you manage to keep the entire hand concealed (i.e., you self-draw all four melds + the pair), you might also qualify for “Fully Concealed Hand” or gain 2 additional fan for winning by self-draw. Combining these can lead to an even higher-scoring hand.

Harder to Detect: Opponents might not notice you are forming multiple concealed pungs, especially if you never call melds. They may not realize how close you are to finishing.

Discard Patterns: Because you are focusing on collecting three distinct pungs from self-draw, your discard pattern might be somewhat random. Opponents who pay attention may suspect you are avoiding calls and thus might guess you are building a concealed or partly concealed hand.

Compatible Scoring Patterns

• All Pungs: If your fourth meld is also a pung or kong (even if it’s not concealed), that yields “All Pungs” (6 fan) plus “Three Concealed Pungs” (16 fan)—very potent.
• Seat Wind / Round Wind / Dragons: If any of your concealed pungs happen to be your seat wind, the prevailing wind, or dragons, each yields extra fan.
• One-Suit Patterns: If all (or most) of your pungs happen to be in one suit, you might chase Half Flush or Full Flush, creating a massive stacking of fan.

Dependence on Self-Draw: You can miss valuable discard opportunities if you are waiting to preserve a pung’s “concealed” status. This can slow your progress or cost you the chance to finish quickly.

Patience and Luck: Securing three concealed pungs often requires a good measure of patience and luck in tile draws. However, the payoff (16 fan plus any stackable bonuses) can be game-changing.